What Could've Been Stranger Things One-Shots
by SamCreatesFanfic
Summary: ((Spoilers for Season 2)) A series of one-shots continuing the story of what would happen in certain Mileven situations. Suggestions are welcome for any situation whether being other ships/canon couples or just certain characters you'd like to see more of! Some of my already existing one-shots consist of Mileven and Dustin getting his happier ending! I hope you enjoy reading!
1. Chapter 1: Dustin's Snow Ball

_"Max?"_

Max turned around to see Lucas, who was awkwardly fidgeting around in his suit. He sheepishly smiled and stuttered a few words out while Max raised an eyebrow and grinned at him.

"Hey. Um, it's nice, right?" He pointed to the decorations hanging on the walls that seemed to be falling off. "You want to, um..."

The ruckus of their conversation spiked the group's interest, and they all looked behind them, Dustin included. He was grinning extremely wide even though a few seconds ago everyone was making fun of his hair, which he did work hard on, but overall he was just glad to be with everyone. No complications or demodogs to ruin their good time. He had even made a perfect plan to ask a certain girl to dance, which courtesy of Steve, made him feel extra confident. His smile instantly vanished as he took a look of Lucas and Max, both smiling shyly at one another. He kept quiet and let the scene play out.

"You want to, like..you know? Like, just you and me?" Lucas stuttered out, rubbing his neck.

"Are you trying to ask me to dance, stalker?" She replied, spreading an even wider grin as she tried to keep her cool demeanor.

"No, of course not. Unless you want to." He scooted closer to her.

" _So_ smooth. Come on." Max grabbed Lucas's sleeve and yanked him onto the dancefloor. She positioned herself closer to Lucas and draped her arms across his shoulders. He cautiously put his hands on her waist and blushed, looking up at her and grinning goofily. She returned the grin and started dominating the lead in the dance. Lucas carefully followed.

Dustin's frown stayed as he watched both of them slowly move around in a circular motion, laughing as Lucas accidently stepped on Max's foot. He watched Will get pulled aside by a girl calling, "Zombie Boy." and asking to dance with him. Will looked at both Dustin and Mike for advice but it was too late as she forcefully pulled him to the dance floor. Will shyly looked up at the girl and started dancing with her. Will also seemed incapable of dancing, but the girl didn't really mind since she knew she was taller than him.

Dustin sighed and glanced over to a group of girls chatting besides the snack table. He recognized the girl surrounded by the clique and started psyching himself up. It was now or never.

Mike was also standing there with him, watching all of their friends dance with other people. He looked as depressed as him, but in his mind he knew that he did have someone, if she was going to come, so he wasn't exactly lonely. He looked over at him and patted him on the shoulder.

"Wish me luck, Mike. I'm going in." He clicked his tongue and winked, strutting over to the table. Mike obviously wanted to protest but let him be. There wasn't anything he could do anyways.

When Dustin reached the group of girls, he looked over and focused his attention on the one girl he was really after. "Stacy!" He called out, jumping over the girls but was drowned out by the sounds of them gossiping and giggling. Dustin yelled her name a couple more times, each louder than the rest, but couldn't get her attention. After a lot more tries, she finally looked at him and scoffed.

"What?" She snapped, eyeing him and giving him a disgusted look when she looked at his hair. Dustin chuckled and cleared his throat, holding out his hand and raising his eyebrow.

"Shall we?"

"Um, no thanks" She giggled, motioning towards her posse to move somewhere else. They all snickered and followed Stacy to another part of the room, giving Dustin glares as they left. He sighed and shook it off, spying another couple of girls hanging out in the corner of his eye. He puffed out his jacket and started walking towards them.

"Oh, my god." They both whispered, walking as fast as they could away from him. Dustin's grin instantly fell as he looked around at everyone else who was having fun. Even if they didn't have a date, a lot of people were still laughing, chatting, and giggling. Everyone was having a great time.

Dustin searched around the gym and finally spotted a place where he belongs: on the bleachers, with the other kids who didn't have friends or a date. He sat down and sighed, knowing the rest of the night was going to be very long for him.

* * *

 _"Hey, are you okay?"_

Dustin jumped out of his dream-like state and looked down, quickly wiping the tears away from his face which he didn't even notice had formed in the first place. Thanks to his hair, again coming from the courtesy of Steve's advice, everyone could easily see up front that he was crying, and that he now had baggy eyes and tear-streaked cheeks to pile on evidence of that fact. He took a deep breath, preparing himself, and looked up at the disembodied voice.

He almost choked. It was a girl.

He didn't know exactly what he expected when he looked up at the person, especially because the voice itself was very light and energetic compared to a typical teenage boy's voice, but to be fair he has heard Lucas scream before, so he could never be too careful. In any case, a girl had never initiated a conversation with him unless she had to or it was necessary.

And I mean, she _was_ pretty.

"Were you.. crying?" She asked, sitting down next to him on the bleachers and scooting close to him so she could look at his face and make sure he was okay. He coughed from the sudden closeness of her position and stumbled back on his seat.

"N-No?" He stuttered out, scooting away from her as his heart race increased. He clenched his shirt dramatically and gulped.

She didn't seem completely satisfied with his answer and continued to scoot closer while putting her hand down dangerously close to his. She leaned on her hand for support and got closer to Dustin. The closer she became, the more brain-dead he seemed to get. The only pro of the situation was he could look at her more detailed features, and not in a super-creepy-guy sort of way.

Her hair was relatively short, obviously not as short as Eleven's hair was at the moment, but somewhat close. It was a plain bobbed hairstyle that somehow had peaked his interest. The edges of her locks were cut unevenly and were extremely rough, almost as if she did it on her own. It was a lightish brunette color which complimented her eyes that seemed to switch from blue to green depending on what angle you looked them. He had heard once that people who had eyes like hers were rare, and that it was classified as hazel. Her face was somewhat rounded and he could tell she had tiny dimples hiding in the corners of her mouth. It was weird how much he wanted to see her smile so he could test this theory.

Dustin leaned back and shook his head, looking away from the girl. What was he thinking? Did she notice him staring? He didn't want to check to see just in case she was disturbed by it, but he had to know, and he would have to look back sometime. He slowly moved his head back towards her gaze and stopped when he realized she was also just sitting there and staring. At _him_.

He waved his hand in front of her face as she broke her concentration and blinked her eyes. Her face became red and she looked away from him.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know I was staring!" She yelled, not daring to make eye-contact with him again. He chuckled awkwardly and rubbed his neck.

"N-No it's okay. I was kinda staring too." He admitted, putting a hand on her shoulder for comfort and smiling awkwardly.

She flinched by his contact and slowly turned back around while they both shook away the awkwardness with a soft laugh. Dustin was right, she does have dimples. And a really cute smile. And an adorable laugh. Oh crap, he thought, what was happening to him?

When they stopped laughing, which honestly took forever, she hesitantly raised her hand and pointed at his hair in amazement. Her eyes started sparkling, and by sparkling, they were legit sparkling. Like, twinkles and everything. Dustin was surprised on how that was physically impossible that was.

"I like your hair. How do you get it like that? Most of the girls here have really cool hair, and I can barely cut mine." She giggled, proving yet another one of Dustin's theories: she cuts her own hair. He wanted to comment on how her hair was perfectly fine, and honestly better than everyone else's, but instead he confidently leaned close to her and gave her a jokingly flirty expression.

"Well I'm not allowed to say. It's a secret." He purred at her but instantly stopped, realizing what he did. He covered his mouth and shook his head back and forth, almost regretting everything he's done up until now. The girl's face turned bright red. They both sat quietly for a few seconds before the girl started laughing. Dustin looked at her like she was crazy.

"Wait, so you're not totally appalled by that?" He questioned as the girl's laughter eventually died down and she was wiping away little tears from the corners of her eyes. She looked at him and cleared her throat.

"No no, I wasn't disturbed at all. It was actually pretty funny. Please, the next time that we talk, do that. Just, greet me like that everyday!" She softly giggled and Dustin almost felt like fainting. This girl, who he'd never seen before, was willing to talk to him and possibly talk to him _more_? It almost felt like a dream.

"Y-You want to talk more? Like tomorrow?" He asked, still shocked by her words. She looked over at him and nodded happily, tilting her head to the side and smiling. Dustin's cheeks started burning up as he buried his face in his hands, hoping she didn't notice.

"Oh, wait! I don't even know your name! Silly me. I always forget that part. That's probably why I don't have many friends. Or maybe it's because I'm too much of an introvert that I don't go out and talk to people. Or it could be because I'm just unlikable." She hit her head gently with her fist and giggled, not even comprehending the words she was saying. It hurt Dustin a little that she had no self-confidence.

"Well, you're talking to me just fine. Must be because I'm special, right?" He joked, nudging her with his elbow and chuckling unconfidently. She tapped her head and nodded.

"Must be. I mean, since I had gotten here I've felt like we would get along easily. Like.. an electricity you could say. I can't exactly explain it, but it somehow makes me less stuttery when I'm talking to you. Though, sometimes when you're being cute it's kinda hard not to stutter."

 _Electricity. Him: Cute._

This time, it was her turn to slap her mouth shut. Both of their faces turned red, and it was a miracle that none of them were diagnosed with a fever from all of their blushing. The girl chuckled nervously.

"Just forget that last part."

Dustin leaned back. "I don't know how you could."

The girl slapped him and giggled, burying her face in her hands. "I'm such an idiot. People told me telling the truth was going to get me in trouble some day. I wish I didn't say you were cute, not that you aren't, it's just I don't even know your name and you don't know mine and it's extremely embarrassing so I don't know what to do, and my parents didn't exactly EXPLAIN what to do in this situation and-"

"M-My name's Dustin" He mumbled out, cutting her rant that would've gone on forever had he not stopped her. The girl looked over at him.

"I'm Hazel!" She shouted. Dustin opened his mouth to make a comment about her eyes matching her name, but he heard a strong yell towards him from a familiar voice.

"Yo Dustin, it's time to go!" Lucas yelled, motioning towards the door and to his other friends who were all red in the face for some reason. Dustin looked at the gym, which was almost completely empty, and he cursed. How did time pass so fast?

He glanced over at Max who was extremely red, but for some reason he only wanted to laugh. He felt nothing along the lines of angry or jealous. Actually, he felt happy that she was happy, and for that matter, embarrassed. Now he could make fun of them.

"Okay, okay I'm coming." He mumbled, waving goodbye sadly to Hazel as he jumped off of the bleachers and onto the ground. Lucas stringed his arm around Dustin's neck and asked who the girl was, jabbing at his shoulder in a teasing manner, but Dustin just smiled and said nothing. Before the group completely left the gym, he took one last glance at Hazel as he caught her staring back at him. She broke out of her gaze and waved furiously at him with a blushed face. He waved back.

They both jumped when they felt it electricity, again. They looked at each other and chuckled silently, waving off again as Dustin left the gym.

* * *

 _A/N: I legit watched the Season 2 finale ending again to get the exact dialogue they used when Lucas was asking Max to dance/ what Dustin said when leaving his position. Worth it for my baby boy._


	2. Chapter 2: Mileven's Early Reunion

Mike barged into the gymnasium, stomping his way over to the center of the court as Max stumbled behind him, trying to catch up.

"Why do you hate me so much?" She asked, still following him from behind as he refused to look at her. "I don't hate you. How can I hate you. I don't even _know_ you." He replied, walking faster than before with Max still on his tail not giving up without a fight. She needed to know why Mike hated her so much.

"But you don't want me in your party." She said bluntly, now fast walking as fast as she could towards him. Mike looked back at her but only for a second. "Correct" Mike retorted again, now stopping to hear what she has to say.

"Why not?!" She yelled at him, causing him to turn around quickly to meet her bitterness gaze which matched his. "Because you're annoying. Also, we don't need another party member. I'm our paladin, Will's our cleric, Dustin's our bard, Lucas is our ranger, and El is our mage!" He stated, raising his voice with every word he spoke, making Max step back with caution.

"El? Who's El?" She calmly asked him, making Mike quiet for a few seconds. "Someone. No one." He replied softly, looking at the ground. "Someone or no one?" She asked.

"She was in our party a long time ago. She moved away, okay?" Mike continued to turn back around and start walking away from her. "She was a mage?" Max flipped her skateboard onto the ground and stepped on top of it, running her foot across the ground to gain some momentum. "Well, what could she do? Like, magic tricks or something?" She stopped and landed herself in front of Mike. "Well I could be your zoomer."

"That's not even a real thing." He retorted back, avoiding her eye contact attempt. "It could be." She hopped back on her skateboard and started moving around him with ease, gliding across him in a circular motion. "See? Zoomer."

"Mind blowing." He sarcastically implied at her simple skateboard tricks. "Come on, you know you're impressed." She continued skating around him while talking to Mike.

Down the hallway, Eleven was still trying to find Mike as she turned left and right from every corridor and into every classroom until she heard a faint voice saying, "I don't see any tricks. You're just going around in a circle."

Eleven knew that voice. It was Mike.

Her heart started thumping, really loudly. She put her hand over her chest, looking down confusingly as she wondered what was happening to it. Maybe she was having a heart attack, or maybe she ate something strange before leaving the house. Oh my god, was not eating the strange, gooey, and green colored round things making her go under some sort of chest pain?!

No, that couldn't be it though. It felt more of a.. feeling. Like, a feeling she felt only with Mike. Maybe it was because of the certain male species? Well she never felt that around Dustin or Lucas, so what could it be...

Anyways it didn't matter. All that mattered was that Mike was here. Mike was _here_.

She ran towards the huge closed gym doors that were blocking her path. She tiptoed a little and peeked through one of the open screens attached to the doors. She looked around the area and saw him. Mike. Standing there all tall and mature. Her face started to red. She hadn't known he had grown up from such a little nerd. Nerd. N E R D. _A foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious._ That was one of her words of the day. Hopper said he said that to many people back in his days of school.

She grinned from ear to ear, ready to bash down the doors when she saw someone else. A...redheaded girl floating on thin air. When she looked closer there seemed to be a disc of some sort beneath her feet that had wheels under it. Like a bicycle, she thought. But smaller.

She was smiling. Smiling at Mike. He was too. He was looking at her and smiling. They were both smiling at eachother. Why were they smiling? They were having fun, it looked like. Without her. _Without_ her. Mike had forgotten about her. Did he forget about her?

Her smile instantly vanished into a cruel frown as her heart started dying down. In replace of the thumping was an emptiness inside. She clawed at her shirt with one hand and focused her energy onto the disc the redhead was floating on. Focus on her.

She slid off the disc and landed on the floor, back first.

"Jesus, are you alright?" Mike rushed to her side and kneeled down, offering his hand. "Yeah, yeah I think so." She took his hand and pulled herself up.

"What happened?" He asked, using most of his strength to get her to a point where she could stand properly. She shrugged her shoulders and started walking towards her skateboard, which was halfway across the room. "I don't know. It was like a magnet or something pulling my board. I know that sounds crazy"

Realization hit Mike as he slowly turned towards the gym doors and looked dumbfounded by the image of nothing there. He sensed something. He ran towards the gym doors and pushed them open, looking in all directions. Nothing. He closed the doors and started running around to the corners of the hallway. Nothing.

Then, he heard sniffling. It was coming from the janitor's closet. He carefully walked towards the room, contemplating whether he wanted to open the door, but he did, and what he saw crouching in the tiny space _was_ mind blowing.

"E-Eleven?"

Eleven looked up from her huddled position with tears streaming down her face. Mike stood still at the door as he studied what was in front of him. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't even process what was happening. She was there. In front of him. She was here. She wasn't dead.

He crouched down and stared at Eleven. She wept softly and sniffed as she made eye contact with him. Mike raised his hand up to her face cautiously and gently wiped away her tears with his thumb.

"El... you're here." He whispered, letting her softly cry on his shoulder before lifting her back up. "W-What are you doing here? How are you here?" He asked, spreading a gracious smile across his face as tears rolled down his face too. Eleven looked down and wiped her face.

"352 days" She whispered, leaning back on him and crossing her arms around his back. He returned the gesture. 352 days. He remembered he had to make a call that night to try to reach out to her for the 352nd time since she's left. Guess he can cross that off for his to-do list.

"Mike, did you miss me?" She asked him, pulling away from the hug and looking deeply into his eyes. Her chest started doing the weird thumping thing again.

Mike was surprised by Eleven forming a full sentence. Whoever had been keeping her away for 352 days must've taught her a few words, so at least he knows they took care of her. He'll have to thank and punch her guardian whenever he finds them.

"Is that even a question? Of course I did." He said gently, studying her at the opportunity he had, processing everything he could before she figured out.

She had grown up. It had only been a year but even dressed in a frumpy old jacket and shirt he could still stare at her for hours. She was relatively clean so he could tell she had maybe taken a shower recently except for the deciding factor, her hair.

He looked up at her head. She _had_ hair. Really curly hair in fact. He reached for her hair and she flinched, looking at him weirdly as he chuckled in embarrassment.

"You have hair" He commented bluntly, making Eleven self-consciously take a bundle of it and try to hide it from him. She bundled herself up into a ball and dug her hair into her legs. They both sat silent for a second.

"Still pretty?" She mumbled out of her stance, heat radiating from her face as she waited his answer. They both sat for a couple of seconds before Mike took her hands and pulled her up from their sitting position.

"Beautiful"

A/N: The most anticipated story yet, the gym scene! Sorry most of this story was dialogue and descriptions from the already existing episodes, but I tried to make it longer so you got some original story. Leave suggestions about other things you'd like me to write 3


	3. Chapter 3: Eleven Meets Kali: Again

Eleven was back. She didn't expect everything to quite go back to normal, but for now everyone was happy. She's living with Hopper as usual and going periodically to check on Mike and his friends. They kept teasing him about how Eleven was his _girlfriend_ now, but she didn't exactly understand what it meant. When she asked Hopper about it, he just awkwardly coughed and told her that he would tell her when she was older. Now she was really confused. Was it a bad thing?

But she felt something was missing. When she was separated from Mike there was something definitely gone in her soul that could only be filled in his presence and the thought of his safety, but she had already reassured herself that they weren't separated from each other anymore. Even then there was something that just.. vanished. Something that made her feel whole once was just.. gone. It was like it had never even been there.

 _"I just feel..whole now. Like..a piece of me was missing and now it's not."_

"Piece missing..." Eleven whispered to herself, glancing over at her open, overcrowded closet that held many of her tomboyish clothes that Hopper gave to her. He insisted that he should buy her girlish clothes suited for a teenage girl, but she retorted back that it was perfectly fine and more comfortable than any other girl clothes she has worn before. "You're my responsibility now, so I gotta make sure you're acting like a normal teen. Not that girls can't have boyish clothes, but just tell me if you need anything okay?" He would say, accompanied by a ruffling of her hair, making her smile back at him.

She tilted her head and couldn't help being somewhat curious on what was inside if she dug closer inside. Something there was calling out to her, but she couldn't tell what. Eleven slowly made her way to the closet as she brushed her fingers over each of her shirts, pushing them aside and throwing them on the ground; off of their hangers. She continuously searched until she found at the very corner, hidden away, her outfit from when she went searching for Mama and eventually leading her up to finding her sister.

"K-K-Kali" Eleven stuttered out, trying to remember how to say her name correctly and what exactly it was. The only times she had really heard it is when she first found her and over the yells of her friends, but it wasn't easy to get a distinct hear of her name. It wasn't an easy name to remember either, like Mike or Will.

She turned towards her bathroom door, concentrating as she slammed it open and walked in. She looked around knolignly but stopped when she saw her own reflection staring back at her. There were a few rough edges and textures around her skin from the many times she's had to wear makeup, especially from the one time Hopper tried to put makeup on her for the dance. It was painful on both sides but it was worth to see the look on Mike's face as she entered the gym.

 _"You look beautiful"_

She smiled slightly to herself, remembering that night as if it was yesterday, but she instantly shook her head and forced herself to take a serious look into the mirror.

She hadn't had many great experiences with makeup, especially not ones that have been done by a person of her specific gender. The only time she had it done by someone like her was from Kali, though she didn't spend much time trying to make her look pretty. She would've considered staying with her to, if she didn't try to mess with her just like she did to Axel. Even if she was somehow manipulated into killing that man, she wouldn't have stayed even if she had to run from the police.

"F-Friends don't lie." She told herself, shakingly making her way over to the door as she stumbled across the room over to her bed. She jumped face-first onto the sheets and sighed, thankful that she made the right decision. Friends who didn't lie to her, ever, was more important to her.

* * *

"Hey El! Over here!"

Mike stopped in front of Hopper's house, waving to her and motioning for her to come outside. He patted the end of his seat to signal her to come. Eleven eagerly slammed the door open as fast as she could why jogging her way towards Mike, jumping over the barbed wire beforehand. She ran over to Mike and jumped on top of the seat. They both smiled in greeting to each other and rode towards Hawkins Middle School.

When they finally swerved into the biking rack Dustin, Will, Lucas, and Max were all waiting for them, either getting off their bikes or standing by the rack. They all greeted each other and started their daily routine of chatting before the bell rang. Mike explained to Eleven how the Bell was a signal to move from class to class, handing her a strange, circular object that she hesitantly took. He motioned for her to put it on and she strung it around her neck.

"It's a backpack. You put it around your shoulders-" He took the backpack off her neck and put both of the straps around her shoulders "-and carry things in it for safe keeping while you go to class."

"Eggos?" She asked, trying to turn around to try to open it and look inside. He chuckled. "Yeah Eggos, but stuff for school like books and pencils." He explained, showing her to the hallway as everyone stops by their lockers. Mike slowly puts in the combination for his locker and opens it. He grabs his backpack and puts it away. Eleven watches him and keeps the backpack strung around her.

"Here, you can share my locker." He offers, taking the backpack off of her and into the locker. He gets both of their books out and closes his locker, showing Eleven to the History room. When they enter, the teacher is already setting things up and ordering for everyone to sit down. Mike leaves El as he sits down in his regular seat. Eleven inhales and walks towards the next available seat next to Mike.

Before she makes it there, Max interrupts her and sits down in the same spot.

Eleven glared strongly at Max as she sat down, blocking any other seat next to Mike. "Oh.. sorry El. I was in the back when I first came here and the teacher recommended I sat here since I seemed to get along with them.. I swear I wasn't trying to steal the spot. I can ask the teacher to place me somewhere el-"

"It's fine." She said with a complete blank expression. She clenched her backpack and stomped next to the seat next to Dustin. She sat down angrily and was ready to glare at Dustin, but was caught off guard when he gave her a sweet smile, showing her that he knew what she felt. She couldn't help smiling back and dousing her annoyed mood.

"Okay everyone, settle down" The teacher said, clapping her hands in signal that she was starting the lesson.

* * *

Hours and hours passed as Eleven boringly drudges through the rest of the day, talking meagerly conversations with Mike and imagining what it would be like to throw her books across the room, of course when no one was looking. She had never grasped the knowledge on why teenagers complained so much about school, to her it was a treat, but now she got it. The meaningless subjects, the many pounds of homework that they bestowed upon you, and the tests that seemed to pop out of nowhere; it was all such a strenuous chore. She almost wished she was back in hiding. At least then she got to use her powers, and Kali said she should never hide her powers.

 _"Jane?"_

Eleven saw her. It was pitch black, the floor beneath her was nothing but liquid, but she still saw her; shining in the distance. Her outfit still radiated her aura as if it was calling out to her. She was near, she could sense it. She called out to her. _"Jane! Jane!"_

 _"Jane!"_

Eleven jumped out of her chair, startled by the voice calling out her name. It was nothing but a dream, or more along the lines of a vision. Her visits to the Upside Down had been getting more frequent, and now they were starting to get so bad she didn't need to focus to get there. Someone, or something, was eagerly trying to contact her. It was growing. It was moving.

It was _festering_ inside her. Somehow Eleven could sense that Kali was hear. She was looking for her. Jane.

Sirens blared widely outside the room, coming closer and closer until they eventually were clear as day. Eleven hastily looked out the window and saw police cars, multiple ones, parked outside of the school with police men holding out their guns to the building. Eleven's eyes bugged wide as she trampled over the desks to get to the hallway.

"Mike, Mike!" She screamed, turning anywhere and everywhere until she could find the AV club. Mike told her that they went there every afternoon, and that she could join them if she wanted. At the time she wasn't fully comprehensible, so she declined. Now she had wished she was closer to them, at least.

"Mike! Mi-" Her face made contact with something solid as she slowly tipped over and fell onto the ground. She didn't dare look at who the figure was. It could've been a lingering student or a teacher, so she didn't want to automatically assume it was someone bad and use her powers.

"Jane, are you okay?" The person spoke, offering her their hand as she was pulled up off of the ground. Eleven cautiously opened her eyelids and found Kali, the living, breathing Kali, standing in front of her with a semi-panicked face. Eleven stepped back and saw behind her was the whole gang: Axel, Dottie, Mick, and Funshine. "Hello Miss Jane" Funshine greeted cheerfully.

"El! Are you okay?" Mike yelled from behind her, quickly making his way down the hallway as he gripped Eleven's shoulders and pulled her back towards him. "Who are you?! What do you want with Eleven?!" He yelled at them, eyeing Kali and the entire group suspiciously. He death-glared them and took Eleven backwards once more.

"Ooo what a feisty one this is." Dottie commented, snickering as she stared at Mike. Mike gulped and starting moving back even farther.

"El? Is this what they're calling you Jane? Have you not told them?"

A booming voice came from outside as a policeman spoke through a speaker. Lucas and Max ran up to Mike and Eleven while Dustin trailed behind, cursing and asking loudly about what was happening. Kali and her friends quickly retreated to one of the unlocked classrooms and Mike tugged on Eleven's sleeve, motioning towards the back doors so they could get out.

"Go with her." She insisted, breaking out of Mike's grip and running towards where Kali had gone. Mike wanted to protest, but just decided it was much easier to just follow her.

* * *

For a long couple of minutes, both of the groups hid inside a tiny Science classroom, looking out the window periodically to check if the police were gone. Of course, they weren't. At the breaking point of ten minutes, Dustin started to stand up and pace around the room, getting annoyed complaints from mainly Lucas and Max. Mike didn't complain as he sat down next to Eleven, sitting there until they all voted that she should go outside of the classroom to check, since she was the most capable to defend herself, though there first thought wasn't to kill them. They all agreed for her to go out there with someone else, and of course Mike volunteered, but Max surprisingly asked to go with her. Eleven didn't protest but didn't agree fully either.

As they both roamed the halls, ducking low in case any of them managed to get in, Max started to engage in a light conversation with Eleven.

"So.. Funshine huh? He seems scary but is pretty cool when you talk more to him."

She didn't respond.

"Dottie and Axel's hair are pretty extreme, though Mick's hair is very by far my favorite. It's classic but normal."

Still she didn't respond.

Max huffed and ran in front of Eleven, blocking her path and her vision. "Look, if you're angry with me, say so. If you hate me, then tell me why. Eleven, I've heard so much about you, but not really straight from the source. I know you don't like me in the group, but I was a newbie just like you, so I know how it feels. In this case, we relate more to each other because we're the only girls in the group. So come on, you can open up to me!"

Eleven stood there, dumbfounded by Max's open expression on her thoughts. Max sighed and moved away from Eleven's path, moving forward while still signaling to her that she was listening. Eleven cautiously started talking, telling Max everything that happened to her on her little trip. Meeting Kali, running away from the police, everything.

"Gnarly... sorry. Dustin and Lucas say that _way_ too much that it's kinda gotten stuck in my head." They both laughed.

"Honestly with the whole sibling situation, I would just talk to her, make up an excuse to get her advice. Like... ask her advice on Mike for instance. I know that's what girls usually talk about. I would help, but I don't think you'd want to hear anything about Mike from me." Max chuckled and swerved around in her tracks. They both stood there and stared at each other.

"What are you waiting for? Get back into your class!" Max demanded, pointing towards the end of the hallway while grinning. Eleven grinned back and started running down the hallway.

"Hey, hey. Slow down _Jane_."

"Mouth breather!" She yelled back, except this time she was smiling while saying it.

* * *

"Hello Jane, glad you finally decided to talk to me."

Eleven slowly walked up to Kali, sitting carefully in a crotched position while facing towards her. "Did you make friends with the little red-headed girl? Is that boy over there the reason you left us?"

Eleven took slow breaths as she took Max's advice into consideration. She needed to talk to Kali, but in a manner that would make her feel more at home with her. She remembered Kali mentioning Mike in her sentence, so she tried to elaborate on that thought.

"What is a.. girlfriend?" She asked innocently, leaning her head against her knees as she stared up at Kali, who was seriously contemplating the answer. They waited a few seconds before she answered, "Don't know. I've never been one, but I assume you mean to ask because the little black haired boy had called you that?"

Eleven's cheeks turned red and she shook her head. "His name is Mike." She corrected her, digging her face deeper into her legs. She rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes Mike. So, you want to hear advice from me for him?"

Eleven nodded. "Advice for advice."

Kali smiled and nodded back, tapping her head and making eye-contact with everyone else. They all gave her no-verbal hand gestures, which Eleven did not understand at all. In a few seconds, Kali turned back around.

"Kiss him." She said bluntly, making Eleven jump from her sitting stance. She shook her head violently and tried to cool down her face. Kali giggled and watched her sister wiggle in embarrassment.

"So my dear sister, what's your advice for me? I will only oblige if you say so willingly."

Eleven scratched her neck and held off her words for a few seconds. She thought logically for a second and glanced over at her friends, who were busy doing other things. The only person who made eye-contact with her was Max, who gave her a strict look telling her to do the deed. Eleven sighed.

"T-Turn yourself in."

Mick, Funshine, Dottie, Axel, and Kali jumped up in surprise, instantly yelling at her about her suggestion. Eleven covered her ears with her hands, and was held back by Mike, who instantly grabbed her and held her hands closer to her ears. When they stopped, Mike let go of her hands and looked at her comfortably.

Jane, we can't just surrender, and you know that. We've been living our life on the run for years, we can't give up just because they've got us cornered! We have to fight!"

Everyone looked over at Eleven and Kali as they spoke. Eleven choked on her words for a few seconds, straining her voice to push out her sentences. Mike saw her.

"El, it's okay. I'll be here, okay? E-Even if you're name is Jane, I can call you whatever you want. Whatever makes you happy." He whispered to her. Eleven nodded tenderly and took his hand. She opened her mouth

"K-Kali, you can't live like this. Giving up doesn't mean that you lose, it means you're giving it a rest. You know I-I wouldn't lie to you.. S-Sisters never lie."

Kali glanced over at everyone, who were waving their hands no and mouthing the answer no. Kali looked at her sister, who looked at her with a softened gaze.

She sighed. "Come on guys, we're turning ourselves in"

* * *

Eleven waved goodbye to Kali as her and her friends marched over to the police cars with their hands up. She watched as they're shoved into the cars and forced out of the premises. Her last glimpse of Kali is her winking before she completely disappears. Mike walks up to her and puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "They'll be alright El, I promise. You did the right thing."

Eleven turned around and nodded at him, fidgeting around with her fingers and looking down at the ground. His hand still lied upon her shoulder as he leaned down to reach her face and check her.

"Are you okay? You seemed sick earlier." He asked, putting his other hand on her forehead. By this time her entire face was probably entirely red and steaming from the amount of heat she got from his looked up at Mike, who's face was now just inches apart, and she quickly leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek.

She didn't even know she was closing her eyes, but when she opened them, Mike's face was completely red and everyone behind them was snickering. Max grinned as she took Lucas's hand, and Dustin smiled widely as he watched from the sidelines.

"G-Girlfriend and boyfriend?" She softly whispered to him.

Mike nodded silently and grinned awkwardly at her as Eleven grinned back, lacing her hand through his.

* * *

This one-shot was suggested by **TopazStars**! I still have many more to make like the suggestions from _Draconic King_ and _MonkeyQueen88_ , but I'm still open for different stories you'd like to see! You can request anything from ships to simple stories, and I'll try my hardest to make it meet your expectations!

I have finally updated the chapter! I hope you enjoy it more than the previous version :3


	4. Chapter 4: Eleven's Spooky Ghost

Hopper could feel it, there was a presence near him. Creepily, silently moving towards him, casting its dark aura around the room. He shook it off momentarily and flipped over a piece of toast he had lying on the burning pan. Again, he could feel it. He couldn't just brush it off like before, he had to face it, like the man he was. Slowly he turned around, bracing himself to see a monster among all monsters standing behind him.

"Oh, Jesus!" He yelled, startled by the sudden appearance of Eleven, who was standing there with a white sheet covering her entire body. Two eyeholes were cut out next to each other to help her see.

"Ghost." She said, looking straight at Hopper and standing completely still. "Yeah, I see that" He replied, taking his toast-filled pan and walking over to one of the counters that he placed the plates on.

"Halloween." She stated. "Sure is. But right now, it's breakfast, okay? Come on let's eat." He slid the toast onto the plates and returned the pan back to its original spot on the stove. He took his cup and made his way over to the table, picking up both plates with all of the necessary breakfast ingredients.

"They wouldn't see me." She said, turning around as he moved around her to get to the table. "Who wouldn't see you?" He asked in a monotone voice, slowly inching his way over. "The bad men."

"What are you talking about?" He placed both of the plates alongside their usual eating spot and started to sit down in his chair. Eleven walked closer to Hopper. "Trick or treat" She stuttered out, trying to find the right definition for the activity she wanted to embark on that night.

He looked at her dumbfounded. "You want to go trick or treating?"

Eleven nodded. Hopper sighed and lifted himself off of his chair. "You know the rules." He stated. Eleven tried to stutter out her words but Hopper interrupted her. "Yeah, so you know the answer"

"No, but they wouldn't see me." She explained back to him, startled by his sudden grasp of her shoulders.

"No. Hey. I don't care." He softly answered back, pushing her back as she tried to win the argument.

"But they wouldn't see me." She protested harder.

"I don't care, all right?" He said, stopping both of them in their tracks.

"You go out there, ghost or not, it's a risk. We don't take risks. All right? They're stupid and.."

"We're not stupid!" She shouted back.

He nodded. "Exactly, now you take that off, sit down and eat. Your food's getting cold." He motioned towards her seat as he made his way over back to his seat. Eleven threw off her costume and angrily sat down, crossing her arms.

They both sat their silently for a couple of seconds. Eleven looked annoyingly away from Hopper as he sighed and rubbed his face. "Look, I get it, you want to see Mike. But it's still taking a risk if you go out there. It's been a long time-"

"351 days." She stated, looking over at him with the same expression. He coughed. "Sure, 351 days since you've seen him, but I can't let you out. What if the bad men were there, but dressed up in disguise? What if they find you with Mike and take him hostage? What if they take you back to the lab and keep you there for the rest of your life, doing little experiments while your so-called-father does horrible things to you for the 'sake of humanity'" Hopper raged out, throwing his arms into the air.

"Papa is dead." Eleven said coldly, slamming her foot onto the side of the table. The whole table shook and almost half of the breakfast items went crashing down onto the ground. Hopper sighed again and looked at her.

"Look.. you can have an hour. And that's _only_ if you find Mike in the first ten minutes and he's accompanied by his friends okay?"

Eleven eagerly nodded and stood up, putting the sheet back over her body. "Ghost!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just eat your breakfast."

* * *

"Do you have the gun?"

"Yes." Eleven answered, pointing the gun towards Hopper in signal that she had it in her hands. He quickly lowered the gun away from him and showed her how to turn the safety on and off. "Always have the safety off unless the bad men attack you okay? Maybe give it to Lucas if you need to. Just.. don't use your powers."

"Yes." Eleven nodded and opened the door, feeling the cool air sweep around her as she saw through her tiny eyeholes, multiple children and teenagers wandering around the neighborhood with the most ridiculous outfits she's ever seen. She waved goodbye to Hopper and hopped off her seat, accidentally landing on her face. She looked up and saw Hopper laughing, "Smooth." He said, driving off. Eleven brushed it off and started her search.

* * *

 _"Did you agree to this?"_

Eleven stopped. She ran to the sound of the voice. The first thing she saw was Dustin and Lucas who were both talking to a red-haired girl and saying the word, "Tubular" which made her super confused. She looked at them and around them but couldn't find Will or Mike. She walked up towards the boys.

"Dustin, Lucas." She greeted in a monotone voice, lifting her arms up in a T-shaped form. Both of them looked at her weirdly as the girl leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Sorry, they're dimwits so they probably can't tell who you are just by your voice. You may want to take off the sheet."

"Ghost" Eleven corrected. Max nodded and stepped back so Dustin and Lucas could talk to her. They both stood back a little as Eleven lifted up the sheet over her head.

"El!" They both yelled, tackling her in a hug and almost knocking her off her feet. She grinned slightly and listened to them rambling on and on about what happened while she was gone. "Oh my god, Mike's gonna flip out when he hears El's back!" Dustin yelled, jumping up and down in celebration as his gun shook on his back, almost falling off.

"Mike?" Eleven asks, looking around the area again trying to find him. "Yeah, Mike. He came with us, he just went off with Will somewhere. We should go find them." Lucas suggested, motioning to Max that they were leaving. Max nodded and headed off with Lucas. Dustin and Eleven went ahead of them as Dustin started digging into his candy. He pulled out a 3 Musketeers bar and started unwrapping it. Eleven looked at.

"You want some? It's pretty good." Dustin broke half of the candy bar and handed it to Eleven. She cautiously took it and started nibbling on the edge while Dustin almost ate all of it in one bite. After she finished, she turned to Dustin.

"Good." She concluded, smiling faintly at him while he smiled back widely. "I know right. Hey Lucas! Did you hear that? El likes nougat!" He yelled towards Lucas, turning around to gloat in his face. Lucas rolled his eyes.

 _"Will! Will what's wrong?"_

Everyone turned around and started sprinting towards the voice, Eleven being the one that fell behind for a second and had to make it up by running twice as fast.

"Holy crap!" Dustin yelled, making his way down the steps and towards Will, who was shakingly sitting against a wall, knees huddled up on his chest as Mike sat by his side.

"Is he okay?" Lucas asked, standing aside with everyone else as Mike huddled down more to help Will, grabbing his shoulder and wrapping it around his. Eleven stood at the back, standing on her tiptoes to try to see what was going on. "I don't know." Mike replied, shaking Will softly. "I'm gonna get you home, okay. I'm gonna get you home. Hold on." He comforted him.

He picked him up as Dustin came over and tried to grab him too. "I got him." Mike snapped, bringing Will to his feet as he let him adjust. "Mike." Dustin called out, watching as Mike slowly limped his way over to the exit of the nearby house."Keep trick-or-treating. I'm bored anyways."

"Mike!" Dustin called out again, no answer. "Mike!" Max and Lucas said together, no answer.

"M-Mike!" Eleven yelled, jumping up as far as she could as the group dispersed so she could see and be heard. Mike answered, but didn't turn around. "We have to get Will home now. Come on guys."

He continued walking, not looking back and not talking for the rest of the way.

* * *

They ended up going towards Mike's house since he knew they wouldn't be home so soon since it was the perfect opportunity to be at a movie theater when it wasn't so crowded. Will was taken to Mike's room and situated onto his bed. Will was conscious, just shaken up. They voted on Dustin and Lucas to look after him. Mike additionally voted Max to stay with Will too, since he obviously didn't want to be around her. Eleven waited downstairs, awkwardly sitting on the couch as everyone got comfortable.

Eleven didn't expect Mike to talk to her, not after the cold greeting he had given her at the time. She really didn't want to face him if he didn't _want_ to see her. She would've just rathered staying at home with Hopper if it meant avoiding this situation. Then she heard footsteps coming downstairs.

"El, are you down here?" The voice asked softly, reaching the bottom of the stairs before she could answer. It was Mike. Of course it was Mike.

"Yes." She answered, shifting herself to the end of the couch as Mike sat down and smiled at her. Eleven looked away, trying to avoid his gaze. Her gaze shifted somewhere else, something more familiar. At the very back of the room was a little fort made out an old table and a huge pile of blankets and pillows. She smiled faintly at all the times she had slept there.

"You remember the blanket fort?" He asked, happily making his way over there as he sat down and took out his walkie-talkie.

"I used this to contact you every single night. I prayed it made it to you but.. I wasn't sure it would." He told her, running around the room to explain how every object she touched reminded him of her everyday. When he was finished, he sat back down and was already enjoyed again by his reminiscing.

"I can speak now." She said, chuckling softly. He smiled and scooted closer to her.

"Man, I wish you showed up before Halloween started so you could dress up as the Dana Barrett to my Venkman" He said, making Eleven tilt her head in confusion.

"I-It's a reference to Ghost Bu- you know what, it just means I missed you. Alot" He chuckled again and slowly put his hand on hers. She flinched a little but warmed up to the idea. She smiled and realized that her hair was in her face. She blushed a little and realized she had never had this problem before. And she was still wearing her overalls.

"You look beautiful as always." He commented.

She grinned wider. "Smooth."

* * *

Sorry I had most of these chapters Mileven related. Some of the suggestions I started involved Eleven as the main character, so my initial thought is she had to have some relation to Mike too because of her main quest to see him. Other things beside Mileven are coming!

Also I was kinda on a time limit soooo sorry it wasn't as good. I'm editing these past few chapters when I have the chance!

Also also I had to look up if Venkman had any romantic interests, and the name that came up was Dana Barrett so.. references? I guess?

This was suggested by **nubbynubbster!**

Suggestions I still have to do: _Draconic King, MonkeyQueen88 YT, Mileven, pearlydewdrop, and candy95!_

Even though I am somewhat swamped with suggestions, you can ALWAYS suggest more. Come at me!

 **Edit: OMG I FOUND IT! Thank you all for leaving such positive notes about my little deletion. You guys are the best ^ ^. I'll try to update as soon as possible for my next story!**


	5. Chapter 5: Original Story

Hey guys! This isn't a regular one-shot but I decided to share this with you guys since this was one of my school projects for English! I used a lot of the names from Stranger Things (hence Mike, Max, and Eleanor aka El) but I used them because I love Stranger Things so much! This is based off of the picture, "Uninvited Guests" by Harris Burdick. Hope you enjoy (btw my friend made her own story extremely lighthearted and romantic, which is what I wanted to do but.. Just look at the picture. It just screams depressing.) Also I'm really tired and the ending is bad lol. I have to turn this crap in for a GRADE.

* * *

"Mom I know that I promised you I'd go to school today, but I honestly don't feel up for it. I think I might be sick." Mike said, sprinting down the stairs with his backpack dangling off of his arm and a shoe limply sliding off his foot. He almost tripped on a rug that was weirdly placed on the stairs. He kicked it to the corner and cursed at it quietly. When he made it down the entire flight of stairs, he quickly swerved around a corner and trudged his way over to the kitchen where his mom was preparing breakfast. Already sitting in the dining room was his sister, Max, who was slumped in her chair half asleep, her arms hanging off the edge. Her backpack was leaning perfectly on the leg of her chair and was clearly shown to be extremely organized and clean.

Amy rolled her eyes at her son and continued to bring over a pan of bacon and eggs to the table, picking up a couple pieces of toast with her spare hand as they finished toasting. Max sprung up instantly in her chair as the smell of the bacon reached her nose. She sat up straight and folded her hands neatly in her lap as her mother reached the table.  
"See Mike? You could learn a thing or two from Maxine. Now stop complaining and come get your breakfast." She motioned towards Mike and patted the chair next to Max, setting down an empty plate, accordingly filling it up with bacon and eggs with a little slice of half-burnt toast on the side. Mike sat down with his arms crossed as she started filling up Max's plate too.

"Mom. I told you to call me Max, not Maxine." Max insisted in between bites of food, spitting out tiny crumbs every time she opened up her mouth. For a second, she completely forgot the rules and instantly tried fixing it. She panickingly grabbed a napkin and stuffed it in her face.

"I know sweetheart, but to me you'll be just Maxine."  
"Hey Just Maxine, can you hand me the salt?"

Max punched Mike in the arm, grabbing the salt and aiming it towards his breakfast as she launched the salt towards him. It landed right in his eggs, spilling out the entire contents onto his meal. Max stuck out her tongue and continued eating her sodium-free eggs. Max gave her a death glare.

"Maxine Collin, that was very rude of you. Say you're sorry to Mike!"  
Max shrugged her shoulders. "He didn't say please."  
Amy sighed and shook her head.

"It's okay mom. Apparently Max likes it salty."

Max slammed her hands onto the table and crouched down to her backpack to zip it up. Amy called out to Max as she snatched a piece of bacon off of Mike's plate and angrily stomped over to the door. "At least I'm actually going to school!"

Mike leaned back in his chair casually and smirked as she ran out the door, slamming the door shut. Amy glanced down at Mike. She sighed and picked up Mike's backpack. "You're going to school. End of story."

* * *

Mike groaned and picked up his backpack, putting it around his shoulder as he grabbed a couple pieces of toast from both of their plates. He didn't protest as she opened the door to let him through.

"Hey Max, wait up!" Mike yelled, sprinting down the road to catch up to Max who was already walking towards their school which happened to be an hour away from home. The sun hadn't even risen yet, but they were both used to not seeing the sun whether it was a school day or a weekend.

"Go away Michael." She replied, walking even faster than before to shake him off. Mike huffed tiredly and tracked his feet harder while depleting the energy supply his breakfast had given him. He finally caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around and planting her right in front of him so she couldn't escape.

"Listen, I'm sorry I made fun of you. It wasn't the right thing to do and I swear I'm not being pressured by mom to apologize. I was the one being salty and-"  
Max covered his mouth and shook her head. "That's not the reason why I was mad at you."  
He was extremely confused. "..Then why were you mad?" He asked, letting go of her so they could keep walking. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"I was mad at mom. For calling me Maxine."

Mike tilted his head."Huh?" He softly whispered leaning towards her to hear her answer clearly. She chuckled and looked down at the ground.

"Being called Maxine reminds me of when mom told me that I was named by dad, not her. After his first few unexpected disappearances, I still had hope that he was a good man and did a normal everyday job, but instead he disappeared more and we found out that it wasn't exactly like a policeman or an accountant. Now, I'd just prefer everything about him erased from my mind. The only hope I have left is the hope he never comes back from his latest disappearance ." Max threw her backpack around in a circular motion as flyers and paper flew out of the exposed pockets. Apparently she hadn't zipped it up.

Sadly the only thing that both Max and Mike agreed on was the rule that they always had to act like a normal and perfect family around Amy. They knew how hard it was for her to agree about this shady job their dad had, so they pretended like they got great grades and followed the rules. The only difference was that Mike didn't try as hard as Max did. In front of Amy, Max acted like the most perfect child a mother could have, while Mike just lazily held in his anger until he got to school.

"I get it. Same with me." Mike responded, slowly picking up the papers that had fled onto the ground. Max rolled her eyes and continued throwing the backpack around.

"You were named by mom." She scoffed and stopped throwing it around, seeing as how Mike would pick the papers up anyways. Mike was chuckled.

They both walked the whole way there in silence

The school day ended several hours later as the sun went down and the two siblings walked 're feet were relaxed enough to walk home due to the many hours sitting down in their desks, and the fatigue they had earlier in the day seemed to grow throughout their classes. Max was exhausted and seemed to lean onto Mike at times when she felt like falling asleep. Mike kept her awake by pushing her off of him violently.

They were both exhilarated when their house came into view, standing on their usual plot of land that seemed to stretch far into the last ounce of energy was taken as they ran towards the front door and swung it open with all their might to see..nothing. They could both hear the roars of Amy's snores, and the humming of the stove that they could only assume as Amy forgetting to turn it off. Max ran to the stove and turned it off while Mike looked in the fridge to see two plates of vegetables sitting on top of one another. He groaned and brought the two plates out, setting them on the table. Max looked at the dinner and yawned, motioning to Mike that she was going to go to bed early.  
"Night!" She yelled, stomping her way up the stairs. Mike heard a faint slam of her door.

Mike solemnly chomped on both of their vegetables regretting his decision to cover for her. He knew she cared so much about her appearance towards Amy, so sometimes he took the blame for things she did.

"You're welcome." He whispered to himself, finishing the vegetables and taking himself up to his room. He closed his door gently and threw himself onto his bed, burying his face in his pillow. He lied like that for a few minutes before eventually falling asleep with his school clothes still on.

Half an hour didn't even pass when Mike heard it.

 _Bang Bang Bang!_

He jumped out of his dream-like state, tumbling onto the ground as the strange noises continued playing. He hesitantly picked himself off the ground and made his way over to his door, cracking it open a smidge while peeking out the hole. No one was there. Thankfully, his door didn't make as much noise as the sound was making, so he carefully stepped out of his room and made his way over to Max's room. He rushed in and jumped on her bed and onto her body.

"Mike! What the heck are you doing!" She screamed, pushing him off as she turned on her side lamp, rubbing her eyes from the sudden glare the lamp gave off. Mike's breath was heavy. He was trying to calm himself down.

"T-There's something, someone, downstairs!" He whisper-shouted, grabbing Max's arm tightly and squeezing it hard. Max tried to shake him off.

"It's just thunder you idiot. I thought you got over that fear!" She sat on top of her bed and yawned.

 _Bang Bang Bang._

Max heard it. It was definitely coming from downstairs. Her eyes became wide and her breathing was becoming deep and hollow, but she took a deep breath and grabbed Mike's hand. She put a finger up to her mouth and slowly began creeping towards the hallway. She opened the door as it began creaking. She stopped for a second and only continued in small portions as if not to cause a ruckus and get caught.

"I swear if Mom's out for a late night snack, I'm going to kill her."

Max looked back at Mike to make sure he was still there, and he was. She couldn't hold him anymore due to the fact that it would become a hassle and he was better off on his own. Mike still didn't stray away from her though, always keeping close just in case. Max grinned and continued to sneak downstairs.

They made it past one obstacle: the stairs. The person, or people, who were creating such a noise were not anywhere near the stairs, which made it easier for them to hide. They crept around the corner and saw the kitchen, barren and empty, which meant Amy wasn't going for a snack. That made Max worry more than if she had caught her in the act.

Speaking of which, where was she? Her snores had stopped along with the strange noises and all of the lights were out, including the ones in the kitchen. Of course, Mike must've turned them off like a good kid before he went to sleep.

Max was about to turn back to Mike, telling him everything was okay, before she heard groaning noises. Soft, but hearable groaning noises that almost sounded like.. their mom? It seemed more along the lines of pain than anything else. Max turned around to Mike and pointed at Amy's bedroom. Mike nodded and followed Max into her room.

Of course, it was pitch black. All of her lights had been turned off and removed while her lamps were taken apart. The bulbs were smashed and electrical wires were faintly seen out of the wall. Max navigated Mike around the glass and felt around the furniture and tables to find anything that could help with the lights.

"Max, I got something!" Mike whispered, gripping his hand around the object as he handed it over to Max. She grabbed it and fidgeted around with its parts until she accidently turned it on. It was a flashlight she found out.

She shined it over her mother and found her lying there, completely unconscious, a shot wound in the upper part of her chest. Her hands were gripping a simple gun that was already stained with her blood. It was resting on her stomach where another wound inflicted upon her. Red marks were strewn all over her neck.

"No." Max gasped, stumbling back and banging onto one of the dressers. The items on top of the dresser shook and fell onto the ground, creating a floor of glass and a huge crashing sound. Max's eyes were filled up with tears as she dropped the flashlight and covered her mouth, choking out sobs as Mike comforted her, trying not to cry himself. He didn't get a good glimpse of his mom and what was wrong about her, but he didn't want to test his theory on what could've happened.

* * *

They both sat there as Max cried for several minutes. She was shaking, almost buzzing, and Mike couldn't do anything about it. She was always the brave one. She was always the one that took care of him. What could he do?

 _Bang Bang Bang!_  
He didn't have time to think. The noises came back, and they were heading straight towards them. Max covered her mouth harder as she heard them, tears still streaming down her face. She was terrified. Mike was too. He didn't have time to think as he picked Max up and took her through a short cut. The sounds followed them, their boots stomping louder as they ran towards them. Mike somehow made it to the stairs as the people followed quickly.  
Mike breathed in and took the rug he had kicked over earlier. It was his only option. This time, it would be him that was going to protect Max. She was in an extremely fragile state, so all Mike could do for her is hide her. He placed Max standing in the middle of the rug and started wrapping it around her. She started furiously shaking her head no but Mike still continued to do it. Before he closed off the rug for good, he kissed her on the forehead and smiled.

"Don't worry about me Max. I'll be back before you know it."

She almost wanted to scream but restrained herself. The only thing she could do was stay quiet and still. She knew this, but didn't like it.

Mike could hear the people walking behind him, and it made his heart stop. He raggedly started breathing in and exhaling to calm his nerves as he looked behind him to find a man pointing a gun at his forehead. The man grinned.

"Well well well, what do we have here? Is this Jason's kid? I heard there was two of them, but there's only one present. What a bloody liar." The man said, glancing over to the woman behind him. The woman giggled in reply.

"Well I guess we can take the snotty kid. It'll give us more of an advantage than the other kid we have locked up. Are you sure it was okay leaving her there without surveillance?" She asked, twirling her hair around her finger and grinning mischievously at Mike as he looked at her.  
"She's fine on her own, there's no way she could get out. Anyways it doesn't matter. The old mill farm is the perfect place to store anything. No one goes there anymore since the ol' fire of 79" He commented, focusing his attention on Mike. "Now kid, you're either going to come with us, or you're going to get a bullet to the head. Which one will you choose?"  
Mike didn't protest as the lady grabbed both of his hands and forcefully pushed him in a locking position. He glanced carefully at the rug as it stood perfectly still, not moving an inch. He smiled.

"Okay Clara, let's get moving." The man said, helping her bring Mike outside to the patio. Mike didn't even try to wiggle out of his grip as he sat him down on one of the chairs, Clara still holding them together.

"I gotta say kid, you're smart. At least you know when to give up. You remember that other kid Clara? She was quite the biter!"

Mike glanced up at the man. He was talking about that girl again. His heart ached in the thought of what she must be going through right now. The man looked at Mike and leaned down towards his face. Mike glared at him.

"Her name's Eleanor by the way. You should know since you're going to meet her soon." He chuckled, telling Clara he was going back inside the house to see what he could raid. Clara nodded and sat down with Mike. They both sat there in silence as they waited for the man.

 _Bang!_

They both sprung up as they heard it. A gunshot. Mike's heart stopped as he stared wide-eyed at the closed door. Tears started streaming down his face as he realized what it meant. Max.

He screamed but Clara covered his mouth. He struggled and kicked Clara to break out of her grip, but she held on. He yelled and he yelled until Clara punched him in the face. He stopped but only for a second as he found the right opportunity to break free. He ran towards the door and opened it up, rushing inside. Clara cursed and ran after him.

"Max!" He yelled, sprinting inside the house. Clara grabbed his jacket but stopped him right in front of the living room. Max was there. She was alive. She was holding a gun. Her face was stone cold. There was blood covering her outfit. There was a dead body in front of her with a gunshot in his head.

"Kyle!" Clara screamed, letting go of Mike as she ran towards his dead body, laying him on top of her. Tears started streaming down her face. Max didn't hesitate in this moment and shot Clara in the head too, not even giving her time to mourn. Max dropped the gun and fell onto her knees. She wasn't crying, nor did she have a smile on her face, but she was content with her actions. Mike didn't hesitate either to take this opportunity to grab her hand and leave through the front door. They both ran towards their school.

"M-Mike, where are we going?" She yelled over him, trying to keep up with his fast pace. He didn't talk and kept running. They both ran as far as they could without stopping. They eventually became tired and stopped at a random location, collapsing on the ground.

"Mike, where are we going?" She asked again, gasping for air as they sat side by side. Mike grinned to himself and smiled back at Max.

"We're going to find this girl named Eleanor and break her out."


	6. Chapter 6: After The Closing

Hopper held Eleven as they were both were taken back up to Hawkin's Lab, slowly ascending upwards as the demodogs continued falling down into the abyss. Eleven had done it, she had closed the gate and any entry back into the upside down. Everyone was safe. She had done it.

The first thing Hopper did when they touched the ground was check to see if any remaining demodogs had been hiding inside the little cubicle, but for the meantime there wasn't anything to be seen. He turned to Eleven to see her crouching on the ground trying to get up but failing miserably. She used her arms for support her but even they seemed to give out. She couldn't use anything physical to help her move. Hopper ran over and bent down to pick her up, stringing her around his back.

"I need you to hold on. Can you do that?" He asked her, putting her arms around his neck for support. She nodded weakly and gripped onto her arms. He nodded back to her and picked up his gun, slowly sprinting his way to the entrance of the room and down the huge flight of stairs that reeked of dry blood and carcasses. He stopped at the bridgepoint of the stairs when he saw Doctor Owens, still sitting there with his somewhat bandaged wound. Hopper cursed and looked around but couldn't find anything to support him enough to get him to the car. He looked up at Eleven who looked decently awake.

"Hey kid, I need you to do me a favor. Can you walk on your own while I help our buddy stand?" Hopper brought down Eleven gently off of his back and replaced her with Doctor Owens, who was unconscious from what Hopper could only assume as a lack of blood. He grunted while standing up and hurriedly went down the stairs and towards the front doors, looking back at Eleven occasionally in case she hadn't been following him. She was, just very limply.

When they got to his car, he gently laid Owens down in the back seats and positioned him so his hand was covering his wound, causing it to be patched up more so more blood couldn't come out in larger quantities than it already had. He then proceeded to go into the front seat to turn on the car. He leaned over and opened the passenger seat door for Eleven to hop into. He fidgeted around in his pocket before finding his keys and turning them into the slot. It took a couple of seconds before the car's engine roared to life and all his appliances started turning on. A familiar rock song played through the stereo.

"Buckle up kid, this ride's gonna be faster than usual."

* * *

After stopping to take Owens to a local hospital, Hopper drove up to Joyce's house and stopped the car, leaning back against the seat to look over at Eleven, who was fast asleep. Her nose and ears were still bleeding from and he grinned softly at how she hadn't even bothered to clean it off. After a few minutes relaxing in the car. he opened both doors and proceeded to pick up Eleven and walk towards the front door. Before he could even get towards the patio, Mike and his friends came bursting out the door with bandanas around their necks and goggles strapped around their heads. He definitely was going to question that later.

Their faces lit up in excitement to see El again as Hopper continued to walk towards them with Eleven in his arms. Mike was especially energetic and seemed to almost push everyone aside to get to the front, sprinting up to Hopper with a wide grin on his face. He got closer and looked down at El who was completely unconscious and was bleeding from both her nose and her ears. The last time Mike had seen that was when she defeated the Demogorgon. The time when she disappeared.

"W-What happened?" Mike asked, his voice slightly cracking from the shock. His eyes slowly took in the scene and started comprehending the situation. He covered his mouth and backed up, glancing towards his friends before resurfacing his gaze back at Hopper.

"I-Is she alright?" He stuttered out, tears already forming in his eyes as his gaze softened towards Hopper. Everyone behind him had no idea what was happening, but they gathered everything they needed from Mike's expression. Something terrible had happened to El. Max's eyes were tearing up too as she looked at Lucas, who took her hand in support. Dustin didn't take it as well as Lucas did, and looked just about ready to kick something before Hopper stopped him. He didn't even bat an eye before starting towards the door, pushing everyone aside to get to it. Mike ran in with him and started following him with an all-too-familiar stare. The crew followed.

"Don't ignore me! Is she okay?! Is she dead?! Tell me!" He screamed, punching him constantly in his back with every word he yelled out. Eventually Hopper stopped and stood there to let Mike get all of his anger out. It took about five minutes.

"She's fine kid. Just a little bit tired." He explained, continuing onwards towards Will's bedroom before setting her down gently on top of the covers. He took one of the pillows and propped it against her head while taking a blanket and covering entire body. The whole team was looking over his shoulder, watching his every move. He demanded them to give him space and to leave the room while he watched Eleven, and they easily complied. Well, everyone but Mike.

"No, I'm not leaving her until I have confirmation that she's alive." He protested, wiping his tears away and taking long, shallow breaths to calm himself down. Hopper contemplated his choice but agreed to let him watch Eleven, as long as he called him once something happened. Mike easily nodded and Hopper hesitantly left the room, taking one last glance at her before leaving.

Mike's instantly knew his priority was to clean her up. He sprinted towards Will's bathroom and took one of his towels, soaking it under the faucet for a few seconds, and then wringing it out so that the towel became damp. Mike then started towards the edge of the bed and crouched down to meet El's face. He took off his bandana from his neck and wrapped it around her eyes to calm her down. He softly reached down with the towel and touched her ear.

El instantly sprung up and gasped the moment the cold, wet towel touched her face. Her reaction stirred a somewhat panicked tone as she raised her hand up and threw the towel across the room. Blind and completely unaware of her surroundings, she started flinging more objects across the room until she realized her energy was gone and depleted. She started breathing heavily and curled herself into a ball. She dug her face into her legs and started wailing. Mike was thrown around in the process but quickly stood up and ran over to her. He untied the bandana and received an exasperated cry in alarm from El as he hugged her.

"El! El! It's alright! I'm here. You're safe" He whispered to her, hugging her tighter and staying in that position until Eleven pushed him aside to check if it was really him. When she confirmed it really was him, she brought him back into the hug and infinitely squeezed him tighter, making him cough a little before getting used to the amount of pressure. She then _again_ pulled him aside and looked straight at his face.

"Kiss." She told him, leaning her face awfully close to his and giving him a serious look, not even a smile or a blushing face, just a dead serious look. Mike gulped and backed up making him fall right off the bed. His face was bright red as Eleven looked down at him lying on his face. When he got up and ended up sitting on the ground, he glanced up at Eleven with a dorky grin.

"W-Where did that come from?!" He asked, backing up towards the door as Eleven sat on her bed with a tilted head. He shuffled towards the door as he was ready to open it and escape, but Eleven locked it. Apparently she did have enough energy to use her powers. Mike didn't know what to do as Eleven hopped off the bed and started sitting down and scooting towards him, copying him. Mike could only watch fearfully as his heart rate started increasing the closer she got.

"We were interrupted." She stated, pointing to the door where Hopper first came through. She planted her hands onto the empty spaces besides Mike and leaned forward again to have Mike crawl under her and escape.

"W-Wait! We can't just kiss! It's not a good thing to do." Mike almost wanted to punch himself for getting into a situation like this. Eleven, despite what she was doing, was innocent. She didn't know what most things were until she was shown what to do or explained what they were. She just assumes everything is okay based on the actions of others. So technically, it was his own fault that she was attacking him right now.

"It's bad?" She asked, sitting back down in her usual stance without moving, putting her hands on her lap.

"Well.. no, but you don't do it all the time..uh..it's more like a special occasion thing. You do it with people you..like." He stuttered out, still contemplating why he was even explaining this to her. Eleven looked at him solemnly.

"You don't like me? Am I not..pretty?" She asked, looking at her outfit which she had been wearing for the past two days. She rubbed her face and saw blood stained on her glove. She gasped and instantly ran to the bathroom to see herself as a complete wreck, her hair tangled in its slicked back stance and her makeup smeared and ruined. "Not pretty." She whispered to herself, running her hand along her face.

Mike ran over to her. "No, no of course you're pretty, and I do like you, it's just.. I've never done stuff like that before besides you and it's really embarrassing. Maybe we could try it when the time is right..." He looked at Eleven through the mirror and she was goofily smiling at him. He smiled back as she turned around to meet his gaze. They both stared at each other before Mike slowly leaned forward.

"Hey Mike, is El awake or no-"

Hopper walked in as Mike and Eleven were a couple inches apart from each other's faces. He stood in the doorway blankly. Mike quickly moved away from Eleven as they both stood apart. Hopper opened his mouth but instantly closed it and turned around, shutting the door behind him. Mike and El both looked back at each other and laughed. Mike gazed over at Eleven and gently bent down to kiss her on the cheek.

Eleven blushed and looked over at Mike who was awkwardly looking away from her, his hands in his face. They both chuckled as Mike escorted Eleven back to her bed to lay her down and tuck her in. She felt hesitant to go to sleep, but he held her hand. "It's okay El. I'll be right here when you wake. I promise."

"Promise?"

He smiled softly.

"Promise."

* * *

Hey guys here's another one-shot!

This was suggested by: **candy95**

It's a little short so sorry bout that! I'm open to suggestions (yada yada yada) and any questions you wanna ask, I'll answer in another chapter! Oh, and any Thanksgiving/Christmas suggestions? Hehe.

Thanks for reading :3


	7. Chapter 7: Christmas Time is Here

I know it is a little early for a Christmas one-shot, and I'm not that type of girl who makes something seasonally inappropriate until that time of the year, but the suggestion by: Draconic king made me laugh so much that I had to do it!

Side Note: When I was creating the personality/name for the girl who danced with Will, it was originally Andrea and she was going to be a hot-headed type. I watched back on Episode 9 and saw that the girl was extremely adorable and seemed shy all in her own way. So now, I've completely changed her name but kept some of the hot-hotheadedness so she didn't seem similar to Hazel (Dustin's "friend")

P.S. If you don't know who Hazel is, go to the first one-shot I've made! Enjoy! (Also this one is pretty long haha. I didn't even try to make it as long as it is, but here we are!)

P.P.S. It's late at night so I'll edit the end parts later.

* * *

"A Christmas party?" Will questioned, walking towards his mom in caution as she started to inadvertently slam pegs into the wall with a hammer.

Joyce turned around to face her son, grinning from ear to ear as she strung up various Christmas lights on the wall, happily bouncing around the room for the first time in months. She nodded her head excitedly and rushed off to the kitchen counter to pick up another box of lights along with a few extra decorations. "Yes! It's today! That's why I have to hurry with these decorations" She answered, bringing the boxes onto the couch and slowly unwrapping them.

"Why?" He came over to the couch and sat down, picking up one of the huge balls of white lights from the box that almost seemed familiar to him. He shook the feeling off and started tossing it around in his hands. Joyce nicked them from his hands and started untangling them.

"So we can celebrate Christmas with all of our friends and family-" At the corner of her eye she could see Johnathan lazily dragging his way through the kitchen. "-and Jonathan wanted an excuse to spend time with Nancy." She teased as Johnathan turned bright red and turned his attention towards them.

"That is not true!" He defended, angrily tapping his foot on the ground. "..but I can invite her, right?"

Joyce nodded and Jonathan lit up, rushing to the telephone that was newly installed inside his room. He closed the door. Will and Joyce looked at each other and started laughing.

"So mom, who are you inviting?" Will asked, kicking his feet on the table as he leaned back in his seat. Joyce shook her head and instantly knocked them off, replacing them with a cute little snow globe that she got complimentary to her Christmas bonus. She had also gotten a few days off, giving her the opportunity to make plans for the party.

"Well, Hopper seemed a little lacking on the Christmas spirit, so I invited him to be my date." She explained. Will raised his eyebrow and smirked.

"What? We're just going together. As _friends_." She empathized, focusing her attention back on the lights. The walls themselves were a little gloomy, but at least they didn't have letters scribbled on them with paint.

"Sure" He teased, getting up from the couch and walking over to the kitchen where he looked head-first into the refrigerator. There were a few produce items, but nothing that could be made into a dish. He laughed and assumed Joyce would rely on the guests to make the food.

"Who do you think you'll invite? How about that girl you danced with at the Snow Ball? The one that I coincidentally had to find out about via your friends." She smirked a little as Will expressed a jumpy reaction from her statement, stumbling around in the kitchen before steadying himself. When he thought about it, he hadn't seen or heard from Violet since that night. He hit himself on the head, realizing he should've at least asked what her parent's phone number was, or if she even had a phone.

"Uh, I'll be right back." He blurted out, rushing towards his mom's bedroom as he slammed himself onto the bed, shuffling over to the phone she had recently found. It was a bit beat up, but could easily get service and worked properly. He waited on the line before someone picked up.

"Hello?" Mike answered making Will sigh in relief. It would've been more awkward if someone else had picked up besides Mike, especially his parents.

"Hey Mike, I have a question. Do you know how to get in contact with that girl at the ball who asked me to dance? My mom's hosting a Christmas party tonight and I want to invite her. Obviously you guys are welcome too."

Mike replied with a solemn tone that he didn't know how to get in contact with Violet, but could go to the party because Nancy was going with Jonathan.

"Great! Hopper may come since my mom invited him too, just so you know." He hinted, already hearing the shift in his mood as Mike happily said goodbye and hung up. Though Will didn't know exactly if Eleven was coming or not, he had to give Mike some hope in the matter. He hadn't really seen Eleven as much, now that she was officially adopted by Hopper. He seemed even _more_ protective than usual so she didn't get out much.

Next, Will called Lucas but still ended up in a dead end. "Sorry dude I have no way of knowing, but I am bringing Max to the party so I'll ask her if she has any ideas. Just don't get your hopes up, she probably doesn't know anything. Don't tell her I said that though." He said, chatting with Will a little before hanging up. Will wanted to give up but realized he still had Dustin to call. He sighed and lazily dialed in his number

"Hey man, I already got the news about the party from Mike. I can come." Dustin greeted. Will wondered how news traveled so fast in this town. There was a lot of static and talking on his end of the line. More specifically, a girl talking, which was probably his mom.

"Great. You remember that girl Violet from the Snow Ball? Do you know of anyway to contact her?" He asked, lazily flipping himself over and yawning. A bunch of static and yelling happened on his end again.

"Yeah. You remember Hazel?" He asked.

Will flipped back over to his stomach. "That girl you were talking to the whole night?"

He could sense Dustin nodding. "That's her friend. Hazel's coming with me tonight to the party and I could ask her to invite her. No promises though."

Will almost fell off of the bed, fumbling the phone around in his hands as the cord stretched as much as it could go. He shakily held the phone up to his ear. "That would be great!" He stuttered out as Dustin hung up on him.

He jumped off of the bed and raced to the living room, realizing there was only a couple of hours left until everyone was expected to show up.

* * *

Everyone was finally showing up, wearing either crazy Christmas sweaters or just plain t-shirts. After Joyce finished the lights and decorations, she realized it was be more beneficial to buy drinks and food so she would be fully prepared. Needless to say, she went all out on the party.

The first to show up was Hopper and Eleven. Joyce greeted both of them warmly and took Hopper forcefully by the arm to show him all of her decorations, trying to cheer him up about the holidays. He rolled his eyes but didn't object. Will and Eleven stood there alone for a long period of time making small talk and taking the opportunity to get to know one another since they had never gotten the chance. Even though they were making really good conversations, Eleven would constantly glance at the door and tap her foot impatiently.

"Mike's coming." Will assured her. Eleven smiled but still checked the door every few seconds.

The next couple of people to knock on the door was Max and Lucas who were both mesmerized with the lights. When Max spotted the snack table, she grinned and pointed towards it, grabbing Lucas by the hand and jumping up and down like a little kid. Lucas didn't have the choice to chat with Will as he was quickly dragged towards the table.

Mike and Nancy were somewhat behind them, taking ten more minutes to show up. Eleven instantly greeted Mike with a huge hug. Jonathan hastily came out of his room and complemented Nancy on how beautiful she looked.

"You better. Her appearance was the reason we took so much time getting here." Mike commented, pulling back into Eleven's hug. When they sadly dispersed, Mike turned towards Will and started chatting with him as Eleven looked around the room and seemed to almost be hypnotized by the lights. She was stopped by Max who wanted to chat with her. They both talked for awhile until both her and Max were called by Lucas and Mike.

Last but not least, Dustin walked through the door with Hazel by his side. Will shook his head and grinned. He walked up to Hazel and greeted her.

"Hi, I'm Will! Sorry to be blunt about it, but do you know if Violet's coming?" He asked, smiling softly to her as she giggled and looked behind herself.

"No no it's perfectly fine. She should be coming anytime soon so don't worry! You might have to introduce yourself again though. She knows you more by your nickname. She's also a bit hot-headed but when you get to know her she's actually really sweet and a little bit shy. I remember the first time I met her. I was too shy to even talk to anyone so she came up to me and punched me right in the ar-"

"Hazel, come meet my other friends!" Dustin interrupted, pulling on her sleeve and pointing at the table where Lucas, Max, Mike, and Eleven were standing and chatting at. Hazel's face lit up as she was dragged away from Will and towards the snack table. When they both got there, Hazel was bombarded with greetings. She shrunk down and awkwardly fidgeted with the hem of her dress, but seemed to get along with everyone else. Will could already hear another one of her rants starting.

But just like she said, Violet did show up. Granted a little bit late. He was dozing off at this point so he wouldn't have noticed her if Hazel didn't give her a extremely rambunctious greeting.

"Violet!" She yelled, running over towards her and giving her a huge bear hug. Violet wheezed and carefully returned the hug with a grin on her face. She pushed Hazel off of her after a few minutes and warmly smiled at her.

Hazel was exasperatingly jumping up and down, only calming herself when Dustin put a hand on her shoulder. She cleared her throat and went back to her shy demeanor, pushing Violet towards Will as she introduced him.

"Violet, this is Zombie Boy. His actual name is Will, so you might want to call him that from now on." She silently chuckled and slid close to Will's side. "And Will, this is Violet! I would let you two talk, but there are so many interesting things about Violet that I have to tell y-"

Violet grabbed Hazel and covered her mouth. "I can talk for myself. Thank you though Hazel. Go back to your friend." She let go of Hazel and motioned towards Dustin, who was happily standing by the snack table again. They both waved to each other as Hazel walked towards him, leaving them alone to talk. They both made their way over to the couch and actually hit it off. She was a bit straight-forward but seemed really nice. After a while when she started getting used to Will, she would punch him in the arm occasionally or show her more timid side. She was a weird mix of tough and shy but it made Will intrigued on what side of her she would show.

Violet breathed in unexpectedly and kissed Will quickly on the cheek, backing out quickly as she covered her face in her hands, heat radiating from her face. Will touched his cheek and started stuttering his words out. Both of them basically sat in silence.

* * *

Max and Lucas were now separate from Dustin and Hazel and were just chatting in the hallway while Lucas tried to impress her with his dancing skills. Max laughed and retorted by telling him to wait outside after the party so she could show off her skateboard skills, and yes, she did hide her skateboard in one of the bushes.

"I can't believe you!" He commented, both of them laughing until they both looked up and realized that they were standing under mistletoe. They stopped and looked around as everyone else indulged in their own conversations. Mike was pointing out to Eleven about the different snacks while Dustin let Hazel rant about her topic, which she seemed to have a problem about. Lucas cleared his throat and smiled awkwardly at Max. Max rolled her eyes.

"Do I always have to do all the work?" She asked, grabbing Lucas by the shirt and kissing him straight on the lips. She pulled themselves apart after a few seconds as Lucas stood dumbfounded. "Next time we kiss, you better make the first move, got it?" She demanded as Lucas nodded quickly and leaned against the wall. Max chuckled and leaned next to him.

* * *

Hazel and Dustin went to back of the kitchen to chat and hopefully keep her away from Violet so she didn't interrupt them. Dustin asked about Hazel's rambling problem and why she did it so often.

"Rambling is kind of like coping mechanism to having a conversation so that I'm not always shy and unable to talk to anyone. I really really try to stop it but it's hard, especially in awkward situations." She explained, pulling at her hair which still hadn't grown over the past weeks. Dustin nodded and smiled, making Hazel more embarrassed than ever. Her face flushed red more as she realized they were under a mistletoe.

"Oh wow, we're under the mistletoe. You don't have to kiss me if you don't want to, and I know you don't want to. You probably think of me as a friend and nothing more, but I kinda do about you because you're really sweet and cute and the only actual guy friend I've ever had, so I don't know what to think about it. I jump to conclusions and since I've met you I've had more friends and it just makes me really happy to be with yo-"

Again, for the last time, Hazel was interrupted by Dustin leaning in and kissing her. When he returned to his position, red face and all, Hazel smacked her hand over her mouth and yelped softly.

"T-That was my first kiss." She whispered, seeming at a loss for words.

"Mine too, but now you seem to not ramble anymore, and this is an awkward situation." Dustin stated, wondering where he got all of this confidence from. Hazel giggled.

"You've cured me!" She excitedly shouted, giving Dustin a huge hug. He returned the hug and smiled. They both stood there for a while just hugging.

"Hey Dustin, is this your new girlfriend?" Someone asked, jumping in between them two and putting an arm around Dustin. Dustin looked up at the figure and almost choked.

"S-Steve?!"

* * *

Hopper and Joyce both took their glasses of wine and clinked them together, laughing about past memories and one-upping each other about their kids.

"Will won the spelling bee back in third grade, even beating a fifth grader believe it or not. Jonathan won a photography contest back in middle school, getting the prize of his old camera that he loved to take pictures with." Joyce reminisced, poking Hopper in the arm as to brag to him. Hopper raised his eyebrow.

"My kid single handedly took down an entire organization and closed the gate, saving thousands of people from the demodogs, as Dustin likes to put it, and keeping us safe till this day." He retorted back, making Joyce groan.

"Not fair. My kids did it without psychic powers." She took a sip of her wine and laughed along with him as they both realized they were under the mistletoe. Hopper leaned over and tapped his mouth to show her what to do. Joyce snorted and pecked him on the cheek.

"You're not getting a kiss from me that easily Jim. We're not in highschool anymore" She teased, running away from him as he jokingly tried to attack her. She screamed and fell back as he chased her, both laughing at how childish they were acting.

Hopper offered a hand as Joyce was hoisted up from her position. "My kid could have picked you up without even looking at you."

Joyce punched him in the chest and inadvertently decided to get up on her own.

* * *

Nancy and Jonathan were both basically the supervisors of the whole gang and watched all of the kids do whatever they wanted. The whole time they were talking and sometimes sneaked tiny kisses to each other, which had a downside. Afterwards they would have stupid grins on their faces and most of the time their faces would blush extremely hard and they would have to hide their faces from anybody who glanced over at them. For the most part they didn't have much to do, so they both went over to the open snack table and talked there.

They were both laughing and smiling when Nancy tapped on Jonathan's shoulder and pointed up to the mistletoe hanging above them. Jonathan looked at Nancy and chuckled awkwardly, brushing his hair away from his face. Nancy giggled and took Jonathan's hand, leaning in to give him a quick kiss on his lips. They both pulled away and smiled widely, looking back at each other and just standing there, staring.

* * *

Mike and Eleven were the only ones who hadn't kissed by this time. They actually were outside, sitting on the porch. Mike was teaching Eleven a lot of different phrases and words that she could use to better understand everyone.

"See, if you put your hand like this-" He took her hand and raised it up, spreading her fingers apart. "-and wave it back and forth, than other people will happily wave back." He forced Eleven's arm to sway back and forth to show her. Eleven looked at her hand questionably and nodded.

"If you put your hand like this-" He kept her fingers apart but aimed it towards him. "-and someone comes at you with the same hand expression, then you hit their hand, alright?" He explained, doing the same thing with his hand as he slowly wacked his hand in her direction. Eleven prepared herself as his hand smacked hers. He praised her and laughed, keeping his hand up.

Eleven hummed and wrapped her fingers around his, making Mike blush wildly.

"What's this called?" She asked as Mike wrapped his fingers around her hand too. He stuttered out his words for a few seconds.

"I-It's called holding hands." He answered as Eleven moved her hand up and down, creating Mike's hand to also move up and down.

"It's..warm." She commented, moving their bundled hand closer to her as she took her other hand and wrapped it around theirs. Mike didn't know if she knew what she was doing, but if she did, then she was the smoothest person he's ever seen.

* * *

Joyce called everyone back together as they all gathered around the mini Christmas tree she had set up. Mike and Eleven held hands as Lucas and Max leaned on one another. Steve linked arms with both Dustin and Jonathan as Nancy and Hazel watched from the sidelines shaking their heads and having a slight conversation about how crazy they were. Violet joined the conversation to as she linked her arm with Hazel. Will went over to Joyce and Hopper as he subtly dropped hints that they should get together, making Joyce laugh and making her pull him in for a hug.

Everyone looked out the window as snow began falling one by one. A new chapter in their lives slowly developing. Who knew that a simple party thrown by Joyce Byers could open up so many roads, and close so many unanswered questions? The crew is left with a steaming cup of cocoa and someone to talk with for days to come.

 _But as long as you love me so. Let it snow, let it snow, and snow_


	8. Chapter 8: Young Hearts

"Hello, Mike."

Eleven motioned to the inside of her house, hiding behind the door as she tried to hold it open. Mike smirked slightly and walked through the entrance, making his way carefully over to the sofa. He planted himself on the pillows and started swinging his legs off of the edge impatiently.

Eleven made her way over to the kitchen with the same expressionless face she had been wearing since he'd gotten there. She found the fridge and started to open it, sticking her head deep into the shelves before finding a bag of peas and throwing it on the ground. Mike glanced back at Eleven as the bag dropped onto the ground and thundered across the entire area. She didn't pay it any mind and continued to reach into the depths of the fridge before hitting her jackpot. She pulled out her arm and showed a box of Eggos, which wasn't open yet and seemed to be hidden away.

She ripped open the front and inserted one frozen Eggo into her mouth while taking out another and holding it in her hand. She threw the box onto the counter and headed back to where Mike was sitting. Before she could reach the exit of the kitchen, Mike rushed over to Eleven and snatched the Eggo out of her mouth. She grimaced and almost retaliated back at him, but was stripped of her other Eggo while she was unfocused. Mike ran over to the toaster and plopped both of them into it, pushing down the knobs to turn it on. It began to turn bright red, radiating heat from both sides.

Eleven gasped, running over to the toaster and plunging her hand into the slots. Mike urgently grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from the burning appliance before she completely fried herself.

"What are you doing?" He yelled at her, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her towards the couch, gently releasing her when she sat on it complying with his wishes. She watched as Mike went back over to the toaster and stood quietly until the Eggos jumped up from the slots, smoke trailing on top of them. He blew on both of them, juggling them accordingly in his hands, before rushing back over to Eleven and shoving them in her face.

Eleven leaned back cautiously and tilted her head to the side. She carefully snatched one of the Eggos and shoved it into her mouth, leaving crumbs on her jeans. Mike chuckled as she took the other one and started nibbling on the edges. He sighed and sat beside her.

"You can't just eat them frozen El. You might get salmonella or some other life-threatening disease. I wouldn't even be there to help you or prevent you from dying so you have to eat them toasted!" Mike tapped his chin, thinking of all the things that could happen to her.

"Toe-stead" Eleven pronounced, nodding her head. She was already done with half of the waffle and starting the other half with a little smile on her face. Mike fell off the couch. Eleven looked at him from the ground as he played it off by scooting towards the TV. He hastily turned it on and started fiddling with the knobs to find something to watch.

Eleven jerked her head to the side, automatically changing the channel without warning. Mike stumbled back and lied on the ground as Eleven continued to flip through all of the channels. She was extremely disinterested with most of them, mostly because most of them were news channels or advertisements, but stopped abruptly when she came across a movie.

Mike glanced up at the television. "Oh cool, The Karate Kid! Such a good movie. Too bad it's almost done.." He trailed off but happily jumped onto the couch, making Eleven choke down her final bite. The movie played. Mike fiddled awkwardly, watching Eleven's reaction as the boy and the girl appeared on the screen. The girl's back was towards the guy. Eleven surprisingly was attached to the screen, watching intently on their interaction.

"Hey slugger" He whispered to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She didn't look at him. He sighed. "Look, I'm a jerk." He stated.

She giggled slightly. "You are a jerk" She glanced over at him but turned back when they made eye contact. He smirked and leaned his hand on the object above her head. He bantered her for a few more seconds before she giggled again and gave up, smiling from ear to ear.

He spun her around to face him and opened his arms. She smiled widely and opened her arms too, stepping forward to meet him. They both stood in the open, warmly hugging and smiling ear to ear. The boy closed his eyes and smiled as he embraced the girl.

Eleven's mind went to something else while watching the scene. It was the music that caught her attention, but she couldn't hear it as well as the actual dialogue. She focused in on her mind and blocked out everything but the music. The screen went black but the music stayed. Mike glanced over at Eleven, whose eyes were closed. He hesitantly looked at the blank screen and closed his eyes.

* * *

 _Time enough to live,_

 _Never time to die._

Honestly, I regretted not spending enough time with her.

I regret not buying her more Eggos or teaching her more about the outside world. I regret yelling at her and calling her a monster. She's not a monster. She saved us from a monster.

One that took her life in front of our eyes.

* * *

 _All you had to give,_

 _Taken by the one you loved and given to a lie._

 _Why?_

I expressed all of my feelings to her. I wanted to do things with her. Fight with her. Be with her. Experience school with her and tutor her when she didn't understand a concept. Maybe even see her branch out on her own and totally forget about me. I would be okay with that because it was with _her_. Only with her.

These thoughts were racking in my brain the moment it happened. When she left. They were all lies. Fabrications that I thought of to make myself feel better.

It didn't work, that's for sure.

* * *

 _Young hearts beat fast,_

 _Driving down the road._

 _Rubber, plastic, metal, glass._

 _Why did you have to go?_

I'm sitting there. Just me. The tarp I used as a makeshift bed is now sprawled across the floor, dirtying and collecting dust. Every toy, every piece of furniture, reminds me of her. It's been a Why couldn't I stop the pain? Is she dead? Is she gone? How could I tell at that point?

Why did she leave? Why did she even show up in my life?

* * *

 _Young hearts die young,_

 _When they are all alone and there is no turning back now._

I needed to move on, I told myself. My heart ached every day and I couldn't tell why. It turned December. It was Christmas time. Our school hosted a Snow Ball. I didn't go. I couldn't go. Not after my promise. I closed myself off. Even after some time, there was still a part of me that was empty.

I couldn't change time. I wish I could.

* * *

Mike snapped out of his trance as Eleven started gasping heavily, the screen turning back on to the credits. Blood trailed down her nose as Mike grabbed her shoulder to calm her down. Eleven took deep and shallow breaths before eventually calming down and looking at Mike. Her eyes were filled with tears.

"Crying." She told him, pointing towards his own face, which was also filling up with water. She neglected her own worries and focused her attention on Mike. She raised her hand up and touched his face, wiping away a dripping tear from his cheek. She was still shaking slightly in her hand but seemed somewhat confident in her move.

She pulled away after a second, putting her hand close to her side and smiling slightly again. He grinned back at her, looking down at his arms to hide his embarrassment. It took him a few awkward minutes of encouraging himself in his mind for him to do it.

He spread his arms wide and motioned quickly for Eleven. She looked at him and what he was doing, blushing from the gesture. She laughs slightly, probably for the first time, and slowly opens her arms up to. He smiled widely and leaned in, accidentally tackling her. They fall back onto the couch and lie in their positions, laughing and giggling. Mike gets up slightly and puts his hand next to her waist for support. She looked up at him.

"Hey Jane, I'm ho-"

Hopper entered the room to see Eleven and Mike on each other, Mike leaning on top and Eleven staring straight at him with a smile. They both stopped dead in their tracks and cautiously looked over at Hopper, who almost looked like he was going to burst out.

"Not in my house." He said, running over to the couple. He picked Mike off of the couch and walked over to the entrance, carefully setting Mike onto the ground outside before closing the door.

"Papa!" She yelled, getting off of the couch

"Nope. Nope. Too young. I refuse. You're never seeing him again. Too young. Nope. Can't handle this." He raised his hands up in defeat and started walking towards his bedroom. Eleven stomped after him, yelling.

"We weren't doing anything!"

* * *

Thank you for putting up with my two-week hiatus! I'm finally back and ready to crank out more one-shots! Maybe even write a real story...

Suggestion By: **KGBKGB** (!)

Sorry, it wasn't what you initially suggested KGBKGB, but I tried to make it somewhat relatable to the lyrics. Hope you still enjoyed though!

If you want to listen to the song:

watch?v=wy7_dnXrCZU


	9. Chapter 9: Their Future(Merry Christmas)

Eleven sprinted down the hallway, tripping on her feet as she desperately tried to reach the door. She reached her arms as far as she could, focusing her energy on her target. She was close, but not close enough. There was screeching coming from the far side of the room, stretching across the entire hallway as if it was a warning signal. She was almost there. She closed her eyes and clutched her hand over the doorknob. She carefully opened it and cautiously peeked outside.

 _"Merry Christmas!"_

Hopper and Joyce stood outside the door, Joyce carrying a tin-foiled dish and Hopper wrapping his hand carefully over a revealing present which was definitely noticeable. Eleven smiled and hesitantly hugged them tightly. Joyce smiled and patted her lightly on the back.

"Mama, Papa, I'm so glad you were able to make it!" She yelled, releasing the hug and motioning towards the inside of her house. As soon as they entered, Hopper closed his hands over his ears painfully and chuckled.

"Wow, haven't heard that sound in a long time. Where's the little devil?" He released his hands and started going towards their Christmas tree, placing his present underneath it. Eleven laughed and glanced over at one of the closed doors, which didn't do a great job of concealing the noise. As soon as she looked over, the door opened and a tired Mike came stumbling out with a wrapped blanket in his arms. He shushed at Hopper and made his way over to Joyce, who was smiling giddily in anticipation. She met Mike halfway and unwrapped the top part of the object in the blanket.

"Oh, she's so beautiful!" She whispered, looking at Mike for permission. He nodded and she took the baby away from him, cradling it in her arms as Hopper came up behind her and took the dish she was carrying. He smiled warmly at the child, who was now sleeping, and he put his hand on Joyce's shoulder. She glanced back up at Hopper, meeting his gaze with a smile. They were both exquisitely happy that they were now grandparents. Hopper didn't like the sound of being a grandparent. It made him feel old.

"So, when are the other guests coming?" Joyce asked, giving the baby back over to Mike, who was taken aback as Eleven stole her away from him at the last second. She grinned and made her way over to the couch. Mike sighed and glared at El.

"Well the only two we know for certain is coming are Max and Lucas. Did Will ever say anything about coming or even leaving his house?" He asked, making his way over to the couch as the couple followed. Joyce sat down heavily.

"He's got his own family to care of. He and Sophia are expecting a baby anytime soon, so he doesn't want to take any chances leaving her alone. She's definitely in no condition to go to a party, but they both hope to visit soon. They send their best regards." Joyce says happily, seeming to almost want to say something else. Eleven and Mike both knew from Hopper that she's feeling a tad left out by this news, but she's getting better. They're all just happy that Will found someone else after he broke up with Violet. No sign or anything but she just told him it would be better off being apart. She always was a tad hotheaded.

They all sat in silence as their awkward conversation of Will died down. Mike almost wanted to ask how the breakup took a toll on him until Eleven kicked him in the leg and shook her head. Mike glared at her jokingly and kicked her back. Eleven shushed him and grinned slightly. They both went back and forth like children, even when Joyce and Hopper were watching, until they heard the doorbell ring. Eleven hurriedly got up from her spot and passed the baby over to Mike, who took her reluctantly.

"Lucas! Max! So glad you could make it!" Eleven shouted softly, leading them into the room. Everyone exchanged greetings and hugs while Mike tiptoed his way over to the nursery, praying that the baby wouldn't wake. To his luck: she didn't, and he could safely travel his way back over to his friends. They all sat down and started chatting.

"So guys, when's the wedding?" Eleven immediately asked, getting some mixed reactions from the couple. Max looked at Lucas wearily and gave him silent signals, which Lucas retorted. After a few seconds of them communicating through their own way, Max cleared her throat and laughed awkwardly.

"We.. decided not to get married so soon," she said. Everyone in the room gave their full attention towards Max as she fidgeted with her jeans. "It's just, both of us aren't ready for full commitment, and we'd like to spend some more time before we decide to spend the rest of our lives together. Don't get us wrong, we do love each other, but it's just not what we want at the moment."

Lucas nodded and smiled, taking Max's hand. Joyce and Hopper both let it be, slumping back to their original places, but it was Mike and Eleven themselves that were a little freaked out by the news.

"You've been dating since middle school. That's what? More than ten years? El and I wanted to get married as soon as we turned eighteen and had our parent's full consent, which almost took another full year. We were sure that we'd want to get married, and you guys want to wait _another_ couple of years?"

Lucas straightened his posture. "We're not like you and El, okay? We are an actual sain couple who didn't go through a bunch of physic crap that you had to go through. Heck, it was even lucky that you two met. You've been together with her longer, yet you still call her Eleven! Her name is Jane, Mike. Jane. Not Eleven. She's not some freaky test subject from a psychedelic hospital testing area anymore. As a matter of fact, I bet you named the kid Nine or something or changed it to some freakshow name to fit your whole family status!"

Both Hopper and Joyce wanted to stand up and object, since they were technically her parents but was covered when Eleven abruptly stood up and slammed her fist against the coffee table, making the sofa that both were sitting on jump. Lucas stumbled back and secured his place in the seat, gripping the chair scaredly. Max grabbed his hand and glared up at Eleven, who was sitting back down with her arms crossed. Mike sighed, which came out more like a groan, and he stood up.

"Her name is actually Mabel. I call Eleven "Eleven" in front of you guys so you're not confused, but she legally changed her name to Eleanor so that the whole "El" thing made sense. I'm sorry I got a little carried away about your situation. I understand that most people have different viewpoints on relationships, and ours might not be exactly like yours." He coughed to break the tension and sprinted towards the door immediately as the sound of a doorbell rang through the entire room.

"Saved by the bell," Lucas whispered. Mike opened the door cautiously and peeked out the door, only to see Dustin standing in the doorway with his back hunched over. When his vision caught a glimpse of Mike, he immediately straightened his posture and opened his arm for a hug, for which he immediately slammed into Mike to receive. Mike backed up and slowly returned the hug.

"Dustin, good to see you. I thought you weren't coming this year? Where's Hazel?" He looked behind Dustin, but all he saw was empty space. Dustin laughed sadly and broke away from the hug.

"We broke up. Recently, actually." He pushed past Mike and dragged his feet into the room, waving at everyone as he continued to sit next to Lucas and Max. He chatted with them for awhile while having little conversations with both the other two couples, but he seemed distant and less cheery than he's always been. Mike hadn't seen him this sad since the Snow Ball.

El seemed to notice too. She caught Joyce's attention and shook her head over to Dustin. She seemed to get the message as she reached over to tap Dustin's shoulder. He stopped talking and glanced over to Joyce, which made everyone go silent. Joyce cleared her throat.

"Dustin, I know you want to get past this, but what happened between you and Hazel? The last I heard, you were engaged to her. What happened sweetie?" She tilted her head to the side as Dustin shakily exhaled and folded his hands in his lap. He looked up at everyone and grinned.

"She wasn't ready to get married I guess, something about commitment, but I promised her we could wait and postpone the marriage. She thought that if she didn't get over her fear of commitment that she wouldn't be able to ever get married. We had a disagreement and we eventually decided to break up." He chuckled lightly but smiled. Everyone looked at one another and decided to keep quiet and not ask any follow-up questions.

"Um, dinner should be ready anytime soon everybody. Mike, go get Mabel. I'll set the table." Eleven stood up and rushed to the kitchen, where there were stacks upon stacks of different dishes waiting to be served. Joyce offered to help Eleven as Hopper went along with Mike to the nursery to make sure that Mabel wouldn't wake up. Dustin hopped along with Lucas and Max as they grabbed the dinnerware and started placing it on the table, despite Eleven's wishes that she would do it. They told her it was no strain to help.

Just as everything was set, and Mabel was secured tightly in her high chair, the doorbell rang for the last time. Everyone exchanged questionable glances at who it could be, most suspected it was Will, but Eleven hurriedly made her way over to the door, once again opening it. She looked out the doorway to see.. somebody she didn't recognize.

"Happy Hanukkah!" The girl yelled, wrapping her hands tightly around Eleven. Eleven cautiously hugged her back and let go immediately as she did. She walked inside carefully, like it was forbidden ground, and peeked inside. All she saw was the sights to Lucas, Max, Mike, and a baby. She squealed and ran over to the child.

"Mike! Is this little precious baby bouncing ball of joy yours?" She crouched down to Mabel's level and stared at her happily, squeezing her own cheeks and lighting up the room. Mike nodded his head and informed the girl that her name was Mabel.

"Ahh, Mabel. _Hermosa y amorosa. Muy bonita._ " She replied, standing back up. She glanced at her and greeted Lucas and Max, who were equally as surprised to see her. They nodded their heads and smiled at anything she had to say, but had no idea who she was, just as everyone else. When the girl saw Hopper and Joyce, she openly hugged them both. She broke apart from the hug moments later and twirled around the dining room.

"I can't believe I'm going to be an aunt! Wait, is that how it works. Do I have to be related to the couple if I'm their aunt? I guess not because my aunt is just my mother's friend so I guess that means you can be an aunt or even a _grandma_ without actually being related to someone else. I mean, if that were the case then maybe I really CAN be an au-"

She stopped mid-sentence as she turned around and saw Dustin walking into the room with a huge batch of _sufganiyot_ in his hands _._ The girl turned stone cold and stopped twirling and talking. They both stood there until Dustin cleared his throat and put down the tray, leaving the room to go back into the kitchen. The girl cleared her throat too and continued to talk with the other guests, eventually sitting far apart from Dustin as they all sat to eat their Christmas dinner.

"So El, what colored hair do you think Mabel's going to have when she grows?" Max asked, chomping on her mashed potatoes while talking, leaving bits of her food flying out onto the table. Lucas laughed a little, receiving a kick from Max under the table.

El giggled. "Well we're suspecting brown-ish hair since both Mike and I have brown hair, but we don't know for the eyes. It might be hard to tell, but she's sort of developing blue eyes, though don't all babies start off with blue eyes?" She looked over at Mike who shrugged his shoulders. Max kept bombarding questions at them as Lucas continued his dinner and Dustin kept laughing at all of El's confusion on how human children work. The girl, who was now picking at her food, looked annoyed as all heck towards Dustin when he was laughing. Max seemed to notice.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem uneasy about something. Is it the food? Do you not like it?" She leaned over and stared directly over at the girl. The girl rolled her eyes, and for once, seemed genuinely angry. Her happy demeanor seemed to fade away as fast as it came. Dustin looked over at the girl as their fight seemed to start.

"Excuse me. Who even are you?" Max sat up and scooted backward, tilting her head to the side.

"The fact that you don't even remember me is one of the reasons why I don't need to tell you."

They both glared at each other. Hazel was ready to chuck something at her face as her hands reached one of the _sufganiyot_ Dustin made.

"Hazel, stop"

Hazel jumped at the sound of Dustin's voice, looking over at him as he gave her a serious, deathly, look. She crouched low in her seat and shut her lips. Everyone looked over at Hazel in surprise, knowing now who she really was, and she just continued to hide. "Sorry." She whispered.

Everything was silent. Hopper and Joyce both exchanged glances to everyone as Dustin and Hazel both stayed silent, looking in the opposite direction. Apparently, everyone was having some sort of issue this holiday season. It stayed quiet, for at least a couple more minutes, until Mabel decided to start bursting out crying. El hurriedly ran over to Mabel and picked her up, leaving the room as an excuse. Mike called after El and picked up Hopper on the way out, making Joyce follow them too. Lucas and Max just sprinted out without any warning.

"I'll always be a replacement. I'm scared the moment you hear something about Max you'll put your priorities on her. I'm scared of commitment to you because I _know_ you don't love me. I know that you prefer Max over me. I'll always love you. I've always loved you. I'm the _rebound,_ from the Snow Ball until now."

Dustin shook his head but couldn't speak.

"I'm loud, jealous, and I somehow shoehorn my way into the storyline because of my stupid personality. The problem is, I can never get married, or date, anyone because no one will take me. I'm always the protagonist but I shouldn't be. I'm. Not. Important."

He tried to intervene but she kept talking.

"You even remembered about me being Jewish since my stupid mother-in-law made it so I had to be, and my stupider mother couldn't even bother to stay in touch." She kept rambling on, pacing across the floor as her feet were steadily dragging behind her.

"Stop. Why would you think that I _wouldn't_ put up with all of your issues? I've been doing it for the past ten years. Why do you think that I _proposed_ to you? Would I do that if I didn't prefer you over Max? I haven't liked Max since the day I met you. So stop doubting yourself and just believe, for once, there's actually someone who cares about you!"

Hazel stopped in her tracks and was about to say something. She raised her hand up and-

Joyce ran into the room with the whole crew following behind her. The phone implanted in her hand was now stretched as far as it went, but she still tried to peek inside the room. They both looked at Joyce as she struggled to talk on the phone still up to her ear.

"Guys, Will says that Sophia is going into labor. We need to get to the hospital. Right. Now!"

* * *

Merry Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Holidays everyone! I hope you have a good one! If you live in the southern hemisphere then.. Hope you're having a great summer/spring!

P.S. Sorry this is trash


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